Bradley junior guard Sam Maniscalco can hardly believe this is already his third season as a Brave.
"Before practice, I was talking to JC, Jeremy Crouch, and I turned to him and I was just like, it was before our first practice, and I said, 'wow, I can't believe this is the 3rd time already that I'm getting ready for my first pre-season practice,'" Manisalco said. "He said, 'enjoy it, 'cuz it flies."
Not all those memories are good ones for Sammy. A sophomore slump of sorts saw him miss last second shots at Wichita, I-S-U and at home against Northern Iowa. Bradley lost two of those games.
"My attitude about that is never going to change. That's a time where I have confidence in myself and confidence in my teammates. I want to be in that situation. That's a challenge for me."
To be fair, Sam's hit some big shots in his B-U career too. His layup with 18 seconds left against Oakland tied the game, and set up Chris Roberts miracle game winner in the CIT. That shot will be forever remembered in Bradley history. As a freshman, he hit a 3 against drake with 10 seconds left to tie the game. The Braves lost that one.
Now, as a junior, Maniscalco finds himself battling for playing time with eight other guards. That strength that allows Sam to keep firing up shots at the end of games also helping the veteran compete with his teammates for playing time.
"I went through a bunch of struggles, ups and downs in both years and I think that has helped me the biggest in getting me where I am now. As far as going through that adversity, those ups and downs, they make you a better player," Maniscalco said.